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When I was a young boy, Grass Snakes were very common where I lived, I even kept them in fish tanks in my bedroom for short periods of time, which sounds cruel now, It always upset me when people would kill them through ignorance, thinking they were poisonous, or calling it a adder, just because it is a large snake does not make it poisonous, and it looks nothing like a adder, in fact it is totally harmless.
Sadly all the local places where I found Grass Snakes have mostly been built on, a few places have been kept as nature reserves although some of theses reserves are small they are very important, especially to are British reptiles, and Amphibians that the Grass Snake mainly feed.
I still know how to find Grass Snakes in the wild, they can be found on stream banks sunbathing, or not far from ponds, as they are a water snake. I have seen as many as five snakes sunbathing on a bank about 100 yards from a local quarry, curled up sunning themselves, and with a pile of manure on the other side on a edge of a field, which would probably be ideal for the females to lay there eggs. Grass Snakes are now a protected species which give them the protection they deserve, If you do capture one it will at first hiss loudly and secrete a very potent smelling liquid all over your hands and clothes, Its a smell you will never forget. Then you will be followed by flies for the rest of the day, and they very good at playing dead for a long time with mouth open and tongue out. So they are best left alone, I would recommend visiting the New Forest Reptile Centre in the New Forest, you can see all our British Reptiles there.
When filming in the New Forest I often find the ghost like skins of Grass Snakes winding through the undergrowth that the snake has shed.
They are a fascinating animal and my favourite British Snake.
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